A/N: And welcome back! The story is moving along, and while this chapter feels a little down in comparison to earlier chapters, I assure you it will get sadder. Almost as sad as my fumbling names; if I had a dollar for every time I wrote "Rogue" instead of "Rouge". My RPGs are showing, apparently. Oh, I'm rambling again, on with chapter eight, and thank you for reading!

Jaune's sacrificed dignity saved Pyrrha from an unpleasant talk, and the table eventually transitioned off to safer topics. Stories from Jaune's youth and stories of school, from both sides of the lesson. It was a more relaxed affair, and even Jaune's elder sisters seemed placated by what they heard of Beacon: neither kept looking between Pyrrha and their knives. That isn't to say Violette stopped glowering at her, of course.

The meal completed, Mrs. Arc determined the tour of the house needed to be finished as well. The kitchen attached to the dining room was large enough and sufficiently stocked to handle the huge household, and Ren had spent more than a little while marveling at the appliances. The living room featured a small television, shelves stacked with everything from Jaune's comics to scholarly texts for Noire, and well as games hoarded away by Rouge and Marron.

Pyrrha wasn't embarrassed in the least to be caught drooling at Jaune's comics; he'd hooked her on them before their first month at Beacon was up, and she practically dreamed of the trove he would talk of back home.

The master bedroom was around the corner, and there was a small study where Mrs. Arc would work in the evenings. Finally, a small back porch before a long stretch of field edging a wood encircled by Bar's walls. Objectively, she knew the home was large, but it managed to feel cozy despite that. Though perhaps it was just the crowd? Even with Violette and Noire returning to their own home in the evenings, there would be nine people under this roof! Pyrrha had a brief thought of what it would be like had they gone to Patch, shuddered, and felt reaffirmed Bar was the better long-term choice.

"Jaune can take you all around town, let you see the sights as it were, but it'd probably be best to stay in today. The town still has a lot of people moving in and out for Vale, not to mention my girls probably want more time with their brother!"

Marron called from the kitchen, "After what he wore at Beacon, they can keep him!" His remaining sisters had taken seats in the living room, though, all of them eyeing Jaune expectantly.

Catching the mood, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora excused themselves to let Jaune and his family speak alone. The three made their way upstairs and settled down in Jaune's room.

Jaune had shared it with Rouge most of his life, he still thought of it as theirs, but her partner was the one who had left marks. The shelves held a mix of more comics and old textbooks, with a larger novel or two serving more as ends than members of a collection. An empty guitar stand sat in one far corner, and an armor rack with Jaune's gear in the other. She was fairly certain he had thrown that together himself. Out of curiosity, Pyrrha peeked into the wardrobe. Just like at Beacon, half of Jaune's clothes were hung, and half were piled, unfolded, on the shelves.

It had taken Ren weeks to break that habit.

Ren sat cross-legged on the bed, and Nora promptly belly flopped behind him, while Pyrrha took the chair. Nora, bouncing to a seated position, took the lead.

"Ya know, meeting them explains a lot, really. But I like his sisters! Well, most of them, I think his older ones hate our guts a bit…"

Ren nodded at her remark. "They hold us responsible for Jaune staying at Beacon."

"His little sisters probably don't get how hard it is, but Violette and Noire do. Well, we just gotta win 'em over, one embarrassing story at a time!"

They all laughed a bit at their leader's expense, but Jaune always did manage to find himself in odd spots. Pyrrha needed to get her own part in, though.

"Mrs. Arc seems unsure of us, but she wants to give us a try, if nothing else then for Jaune's sake. Violette doesn't seem to want that, though. We'll have to talk to her some time."

"You'll have to talk to her," Nora interjected, "she only shoots us dirty looks. Jaune's big sis is sizing you up for a grave, though." Pyrrha hung her head a little at that, since it was probably true. Ren came to the rescue, however.

"Having Mrs. Arc and his younger sisters willing to accept us is more than I expected. Jaune made it sound as if they'd all kick us out."

"He can be a little dramatic," Nora snorted at the understatement. "Between our meeting his father and our own talks at Beacon, I assumed it wouldn't be terrible. They're too tight-knit to really hold a grudge. We just have to wait this out. Jaune will make peace, and then we can meet them on even ground. I suppose I will have to talk to his elder sisters…"

"Don't worry, Pyrrha! You'll just have to slay the dragons and save the damsel in distress! You got it in you, I know it. After everything we've been through, a couple angry sisters aren't going to keep us down!" Ever the optimist, Nora. Her bright words sent them all thinking on dark memories, however, and the room grew still. Ren spoke up first, quietly.

"It's hard process, what happened."

Nora began hesitantly: "I keep expecting to wake up back in the room, and this was just another one of my dreams. It hasn't even been a week…"

Pyrrha knew exactly how they felt. She'd been trying to forget, trying to get lost in all the rush of the last several days. Now that they were in Bar, though, there was nothing left but to just… wait. "Even in the camp, there was worry over what we would do next, some urgency in planning." Now though? Now they were simply left with their thoughts.

"I killed someone."

Silence, total and crushing.

"I killed Penny. She… was a machine? But she had aura, she had friends and wants. She was a person and I killed her… How am I-"

She cut off when Nora dropped down onto her in the chair, wrapping her in a hug, and Pyrrha held on to her friend for all it was worth. They could not escape their pasts, but together, they would weather the storm.

Jaune, feeling like the accused at a trial, sat down in one of the chairs while his sisters arrayed around him. Personally, he'd rather his friends not leave, but this was a family matter. His talks with Blanche and Vi hadn't been terrible though, right?

"Well, third time's the charm, Jaune."

"I'm sorry I lied to you all and left for Beacon without saying goodbye. And sorry about not calling, too. You guys were worried about me, I should have kept in touch."

"You should have." Marron responded bluntly. Rose and Verte nodded along, backing up their sister. Rouge took up the cause next.

"We were worried sick, Jaune. Other than a couple boilerplates from Beacon, we didn't know anything about what was happening to you. If you got hurt, we'd probably only find out from a medical report!"

"Yeah, it was pretty dumb of me…"

The girls all agreed with that.

"But, I am- was a student at Beacon. I passed classes, I went on missions, I even won a few matches! We don't know when we can go back to Beacon, but JNPR is going back, and I'll be going with them. I won't stay away next time, I promise, but I will go.

"Jaune," Noire interjected, "it undermines the apology when you say you're going to do it again. It defeats the point."

"I know, but I want to say this now. I am sorry I made you guys worry, but I'm not giving up on being a huntsman! I can do this, and I've got months of actually doing it to back me up! I don't want to freak you all out again, but this is what I want to be. Blanche is a soldier, why can't I be a huntsman?"

"That's different." Noire protested. The others took up the chorus, save for Vi.

"How? If Vale goes to war, Blanche is in just as much danger, and the army is used to keep off Grimm all the time, that's what Blanche is doing right now! Sure, I could take a mission by myself, but I've got my friends, so why would I? If anything, I'm in even less danger, since Huntsmen choose their missions and we have aura!"

"Aura?" Rose asked. Jaune pointed to her, then ran to the kitchen before returning with a knife.

"Aura, physical manifestation of the soul? Basic part of being a Hunstman, sis." With that, Jaune stabbed the knife at his arm. Most of his sisters leapt up, but froze when the knife harmlessly skittered away.

"This thing stops bullets, blades, Grimm, just about anything. It runs out, but recharges. Pretty cool, right?

"Look, this isn't the point! The point is, I'm not the same as when I left. I have combat training, I'm part of team specifically trained to fight Grimm, and we don't have 'Heroic Last Stands 101' at Beacon. Come on, guys, give me a chance here!"

Jaune took a page from Ren's book, and let silence speak for him. Ren was a convincing guy, after all.

Violette said nothing, which was worrying. Bringing up her twin had Noire thinking, and his little sisters were definitely mulling it over.

Verte got up, and stepped up to him. "You swear, as an Arc, you'll keep in touch?" Jaune nodded. "And that you won't do anything stupid?"

"Stupid for me, or stupid in general?" Verte didn't like that one. "I swear to be careful and stay in touch." She looked hard at him, but eventually she sagged a bit and let out an explosive breath.

"Alright, I'm okay with this." Rouge, however, erupted at Verte's words.

"What do you mean, 'okay with this'? It's nuts!" Rouge losing her temper drew Noire out, though.

"Rouge, Jaune is too good to say it, but he has all the cards here." They all looked to Noire. "If we make him promise to keep us in the loop, then Jaune will do it. But if we don't ask for anything, then Jaune will just leave again and we'll still be in the dark. Before he went to Beacon, maybe we could have stopped him. But now? He's combat trained, has some committed friends, and is legally an adult as of his admission to Beacon."

"I am?"

"You are."

"Huh, cool!" "Wait, does that mean Ruby's legally an adult? Oh wow, that'd be a nightmare at her age! Also, Noire is giving me waaay to much credit." Jaune decided that running with the bluff his sister gave him was the best option.

"Those friend of his should be committed. A manic, a depressive, and an obsessive." Vi grumbled, breaking from her musings.

"Violette, say something like that again, and I'll take my team and leave."

Quiet filled the room, his sisters deer in the headlights.

"Don't insult my friends. Do you know what Ren and Nora have been through? What Pyrrha's dealing with? Don't insult them, don't mess with my team." Violette looked furious, but she didn't say anything, returning to her brooding.

"I... won't stop you from becoming a huntsman, Jaune." Noire was staring at her feet, but Jaune felt a little bit of pride at winning her over. "You're right about you and Blanche. You weren't ready when you left, but…"

"You're going to call!" Rouge insisted, Marron and Rose nodding vigorously.

"I'll call, I'll call. I don't even know when we're going." He looked pleadingly at Violette. "Well, four and two halves down?"

She was unhappy, it was obvious, and being outnumbered was only making it worse. Vi glared at him, then at Noire, then back at him.

"You win. I don't approve, especially not after what you've told me, but I can't stop you."

It wasn't what he wanted, but he supposed it would do for now.

"Thanks, girls, this mean a lot to me. Now, there's a few more things you should know if JNPR is going to stay with us."

All three of them had managed to achieve some level of control when Jaune finally peeked into his room, and he looked as if the hour had aged him a decade. He sat down on the bed opposite Ren and began quietly.

"So the good news is that my sisters won't kidnap me for my own safety." A little laughter. "The bad news is that they're not totally sold. Noire and Vi are giving up on stopping me, but that's not the same as approving." He looked away then, took a slow breath. "If either of them, any of them, give you grief, let me know." He didn't say more, he didn't need to. To Pyrrha, who'd learned a long time ago how to be politic, it was obvious: "They had bad things to say about you, and I didn't stand for it." Part of her felt some pride in being held in such close regard, but part of her was worried that the team would cause a schism. None of them meant for Jaune to pick between family and friends.

"Pyrrha, want to do some training?" The question caught her a little off guard, and she imagined it showed. Jaune wouldn't quite meet her eyes, scratching the back of his head.

"It's just, none of us have practiced in days, I don't want us getting rusty." Again, she heard the unspoken: "I need to improve."

"I think of bit of training is what we need, clear our heads a little." Nor and Ren jumped on the chance a little too eagerly, and soon the whole team had changed from their secondhand spares to combat gear, and were making their way into the afternoon sun.

To call the space a yard would be a discredit to lawn care, but the four made their way through the tall grass until they were some distance from the house. A few hacks of Milo and Crocea Mors later, and they had cleared a rough circle of tall scrub. The partners paired off, and soon Pyrrha was immersed in training.

She had found she quite liked sparring with Jaune. Not because of the obvious teenage reasons, of course, but for more subtle things. The fights didn't have the oppressive weight of real combat or even a tournament match, there was an easiness to it that made it relaxing. The actual act of working her muscles was always an enjoyable thing for Pyrrha, but these training spars felt... freeing in a way she couldn't properly describe.

Jaune's honest determination was a small piece of joy as well; the unbridled desire to improve, to strive for perfection. It was an appreciation she imagined everyone felt when they saw a peer honing their craft. She drew yet more by being his mentor, watching as Jaune executed maneuvers she had taught him with precision, where he had once been sloppy. She felt herself working her mind as well, as she reviewed Jaune's fighting, and thought of ways to correct errors and plan new lessons, something unique to these exercises.

Of course, 'Pyr' wasn't above admitting it was fun to watch Jaune work out.

Jaune was, understandably, far more committed this afternoon. He struck with purpose, he moved with determined steps, and there was an air of anger around him, like a bed of coals without flame. It was certainly something she was going to put to use, and Pyrrha pulled no punches. They were focused on their own bouts, ignoring Ren and Nora beside them, let alone what might be beyond their makeshift training ground. Just her and Jaune, bout after bout. They progressed from warm, to sweating, to winded, stopping only for the barest breaks before beginning anew.

Jaune's stellar performance came to a rather abrupt end when he overbalanced himself on a thrust and she threw him over her shoulder. His stunned look worried her at first, but then Jaune burst into a wheezing laugh, and the oddness of it made her giddy. Soon enough, they were both lost to breathless laughter, only stopping when Jaune switched to coughing.

"That. Was really good." He said, sucking in breath.

"It was!" She responded, breathing nearly as hard. Jaune stuck a hand towards her.

"Give me a hand, my legs are jelly." She kept laughing, but hauled Jaune to his feet, propping him against herself. It was only when she found it difficult that she registered how tired she was, and she sagged a bit against him. They noticed Ren and Nora then, lounging on the pile of cut grass and scrub.

"You two have been going for an hour since we stopped!" Nora added in a sing-song voice.

"We didn't want to interrupt," Ren added with a secret smile, "you two were having so much fun." Jaune mumbled something she though contained the word "house", and the four headed in. Helping Jaune along, she saw all his sisters watching from the porch: from awestruck Verte, to giddy Rouge, to Violette. Quiet, considering, but not nearly as hating.

Pyrrha settled in for bed, wearing some borrowed sleepwear from Rouge, and tried to keep her mind on the good parts of the day. They discussed vague plans for tomorrow, made small talk with the Arcs, and the whole team relaxed through the bone-deep weariness of training. For the first time in what seemed ages, she was eager for sleep.

Sometime in the night, she shot awake with a shout.

Nora, blessedly, was beside her in a heartbeat, checking on her. Only a few beats later, Jaune slammed open the door, wide eyed.

"Pyr!? Is everything-"

"It's okay, Jaune, I got her." Nora said soothingly, still holding onto her. "Head back to bed, I'll keep an eye on Pyrrha."

Jaune stayed in the doorway for a while, nervous, but he shut the door quietly behind him, leaving the girls on their own. Pyrrha sat for a long time, leaning against Nora in the dark, trying to not think.

"Not the first time for me, just so you know."

"What?"

"Ren. He had nightmares for a long time after… after it happened. I'd sit next to him just like this. He was so calm when he was awake, but he was always scared when he was asleep."

Pyrrha stayed quiet, not wanting to break the spell.

"That's how I helped take care of him. Ren would be calm, and plan and stuff during the day, and when we went to sleep? I'd sit right next to him and help keep everything away. That was when I realized I wanted to help people; not just Ren, everyone I could. I wanted to make sure everyone could sleep at night.

"For as long as I can remember, I only had Ren, my only family. Not anymore, now I have Jaune and you. If you ever need me, Pyrrha, I'll be there. I know, you've got Jaune, but I'll be there for you too." Nora's voice hitched a little, and Pyrrha felt her friend lean against her just the slightest.

"Nora… can we stay like this? For a little while longer?"

"Sure thing… sis."

Slowly but surely, sleep reclaimed them, and Pyrrha tried to forget what she dreamed.

A distant dirt road, an arrow in the back, and evil golden eyes..

Post: What's this? Actual plot? I'll be working a few more elements in as we go. Also, I'm pretty please with how Nora came out in this, and I do intend for Nora and Ren to become more involved.

Sral, thanks for the words of advice on Vi in last chapter; I was unsure if her silence came across as meaningful enough or not, but it may have been the wrong choice regardless.